The Broken Cat
by malicent
Summary: Kits are a blessing in any Clan, but Snowy is the only exception. Born with only three legs, she is banished to the forest to die a cold and painless death. Two cats find her just in time, and give her a home in the most unexpected of places. BloodClan.
1. A Cruel Beginning

The Broken Cat

Chapter 1

Jubilant cries echoed around the stone hollow. Kits were being born! So far, Mistflower had given birth to two healthy toms, one black and one a tabby. The father, Rowenheart stared on proudly, eyes crinkled happily as he looked at his sons.

"That's it, Mistflower!" Poppyseed (the medicine cat) exclaimed. "Two kits are a blessing for any clan."

Mistflower warmly nudged her two kits towards her, and they rested their little paws on the inner part of her stomach.

"They're so beautiful," Mistflower whispered. "The little black one looks just like you, Rowenheart."

Rowenheart fluffed the fur on his chest proudly. "They'll make fine warriors one day."

Cats had started to drift away, some coming up to congratulate Mistflower. Poppyseed had run off to prepare bundles of herbs for the kits if they wouldn't sleep at night. Mistflower shut her eyes sleepily and rested her head on the soft grass by the nursery.

It was two hours later when she felt an unimaginable pain. Mistflower awoke at once, wondering if someone was attacking her. Her belly ached terribly, making her eyes blurry and chest heave for breaths.

"Rowenheart!" She called, flinching painfully. It hurt to speak too. Rowenheart was there in a few seconds.

"What's wrong?" he asked in alarm, staring at his mate.

"Get... Poppyseed."

"You want some poppy seeds? Its kind of early for those," Rowenheart started to walk away in direction of the medicine cats den.

"NO!" Mistflower screeched as a convulsion shook through her body. "Get _Poppyseed! Now!"_

Rowenheart charged to the medicine den and came back seconds later with the medicine cat. Cats were starting to peer out of their dens again, woken by Mistflowers distress call. Mistflower could see Poppyseed peer over her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, as another convulsion shook Mistflower.

"Oh I don't know," Mistflower groaned. "I was fine a second ago!"

Rowenheart gently moved the kits to sit beside him, as he watched his mate shake in pain. Poppyseed laid a paw on Mistflowers belly, and then took it off in alarm.

"Mistflower, I know what the problem is," Poppyseed said.

"What? Just get rid of it, it hurts!"

"I don't know how to tell you this," Poppyseed said in confusion. "But your giving birth to another kit."

Shocked meows echoes around the watching cats.

"But I just _gave _birth! Weren't they all supposed to come out all at once?"

"Well, I think so..."

"You're the medicine cat!" Mistflower cried. "Tell me what to do!"

Poppyseed looked scared. "Well, I guess all you can do is give birth to this kit."

Mistflower gave a sigh of relief as the kit fell against the grass. The kit was born. Poppyseed licked the small kit to keep her warm, and Mistflower lifted her head to look at it.

"It's a beautiful white she kit," Poppyseed meowed, and Mistflower felt her heart warm at the sight of her daughter. She nudged her over.

"Come here little one," she whispered. The kit fell on its side to her mothers belly. Then Mistflower saw it. So did Poppyseed, who let out a squeak of surprise.

"She has three legs," she gasped, echoing Mistflowers fears. The kit had only one hind leg. Mistflower didn't know what to say. Then Rowenheart came into view.

"We have a daughter!" He cried in happiness. "She's beautiful, she's..." Rowenhearts eyes darkened. "She's got three legs," he finished in disgust. Mistflower felt defensive at her mates reaction.

"She's perfect,"she snapped. "Who cares if she has three legs?"

The little kit opened her mouth and cried. Rowenheart stared at his daughter for another second then turned away.

"I need to go help Briarstorm with her hunting patrol," he said, then started walking away. Mistflower felt anger rise in her heart at the coldness Rowenheart was showing. She looked down at the tiny kit, wriggling blindly in the cold. It was leaf-bare, and a cruel one if that. How would a three legged kit survive? How would she fight or hunt? Mistflower looked helplessly up at Poppyseed. She returned her gaze with a nod of her head, answering Mistflowers thoughts.

There was no hope for the little kit.

"Mistflower, it's time," Poppyseed said solemnly. Mistflower didn't have the will to respond. Yesterday, Poppyseed had a dream of the three legged kit. She was a bad omen, and Poppyseed intercepted that misfortune will live with the Clan. When the broken one leaves, the Clan will heal. The Clan leader had the cats vote on whether or not the kit should be banished ... Mistflower cried when she saw Rowenheart agree. A few elders had gone against it, but nearly every cat had voted for the same thing: The broken cat must leave. Mistflower licked her daughter softly on her head and tried not to let the tears that had risen to her eyes fall. Tanglestar slowly walked over to Mistflower, cowering over her kit.

"Mistflower, we are not banishing your daughter. We are banishing the evil she threatens to bring to our Clan."

"How can an innocent kit bring evil?" Mistflower cried.

"This is the will of Starclan," Tanglestar said. "And who would we be to deny the destiny they have lain out before us?"

"Starclans wrong!" Mistflower hissed. "My daughter is not the destruction Starclan is promising us!"

"Mistflower, the Clan voted. Give me Amissa."

"Give you who?"

"Amissa," Tanglestar repeated. "That's what i've decided to call her. She is lost to us." (Amissa is the Latin word for lost.)

"No," Mistflower growled. "You are lost to _her! _She's better off without you lot anyway!" Tanglestar looked at Mistflower neutrally.

"She will die quickly, you know. And painless. No one will even know. No one will see her, because of her white pelt. And no one will hear her, she will be quiet like the snow." Mistflowers eyes stung.

"This is cruel, Tanglestar. I'll never forget this."

"You can do whatever you want," Tanglestar snapped. "But I'm getting this omen of destruction out of our home," reached forward and picked up Amissa by her scruff.

"No!" Mistflower cried, lunging forward. Two cats jumped in front of her, as Tanglestar ran off towards the freezing white forest with Mistflowers beloved daughter.

_later on_

"I mean, I don't know who Scourge thinks he's fooling," Bone said in disgust. "If he thinks we're gonna find prey out here he's got another thing coming."

"Stop your complaining and stay alert," Boulder snapped. "If we don't find something who knows what could happen to us?"

"Yeah. Right. He's barely older then a kit," Bone stopped in his tracks and hunched down. "I see something!" he hissed. Boulder looked around and didn't see it at first. It looked like a snow pigeon, stuck in the snow.

"Just wait till Scourge gets a load of this," Boulder said. "It'll be the first live prey in weeks!" he dropped into the hunters crouch and slithered like a snake over to the thrashing prey. Bone stood and watched, careful not to make a noise to frighten the bird. Then to his surprise, Boulder came crashing through the snow back towards him.

"What are you _doing?_" Bone hissed. Boulder looked stricken.

"There's a kit over there!" he exclaimed.

"What? No," Bone scoffed. "What would a kit be doing in the middle of the forest?"

"I don't know," Boulder said. "But there's a kit that is going to freeze to death soon if we don't do something!"

"So we're going to _help it?_ Scourge would die laughing if he could hear us."

Boulder looked back over his shoulder. "But... we can't just let it die," he said quietly. "Do you really think Scourge is so heartless he'd kill a baby kit?"

"Well, no." Bone flattened his ears when he realized he didn't want to hurt the kit either. "Fine. Let's take it back to the alley. And if Scourge flips on us, you're taking the blame," he started trudging through the snow towards the kit.

"Go tell him what we found," Boulder whispered.

"Me? You do it!"

"I can't. I'm busy sorting the leaves," Boulder patted the leaves with his paws.

"You're full of crap! Just go in there and say, "Hello Scourge, we found a kit!"

"Really?" a new voice entered there conversation. Scourge stood before them, calmly looking at the white kit. Scourge was a very small cat, with a collar of dog teeth around his neck. His green eyes were accusing, and his mouth was always twisted into a permanent frown. He wasn't even half the size of the other cats, this being because he only seven months old. But he was mean, everyone in Bloodclan knew that. And he was their leader. When Bone realized Scourge was standing there, he nearly leaped out of his fur. Boulder just stood there, petrified.

"Ahem," Scourge sarcastically cleared his throat. "Boulder, I'm not going to eat you."

Boulder forced himself to relax.

"Where did you find this?" Scourge disgustedly prodded the kit with a paw.

"In the forest, by herself. It would have been heartless to leave her there," Bone said quickly. Scourge pushed the kit over to examine her, and narrowed his eyes in surprise.

"She's missing a leg," he said.

"Yes, but I'm sure the other three work fine-"

"Shut up!" Scourge snapped. "Get her out of my sight! What made you possibly think I'd want her?" he turned around and stalked away. Bone sighed, and picked up the kit gently by her scruff. Boulder followed him, expecting Bone to carry her out to the streets, but instead, he carried her to his box at the end of the alley.

"What are you doing?" Boulder hissed. "Scourge said to get rid of her!"

"He did, didn't he?" Bone snapped. "And he also told me to get rid of my own son, just because he was half-kittypet! How many innocent cats are going to die because of Scourges cruelty?"

The kit opened her mouth and let out a cry.

"Well, Bone, I won't stop you from keeping it. Good luck feeding it, though." The kit was obviously hungry. She nuzzled Bone blindly, searching him for something a tom cat couldn't provide.

"I'll go ask Mink," Bone shuffled out of the den. He returned a few minutes later with a skinny grey she-cat, who had agreed to suckle the three legged kit.

"Maybe if she grows strong, Scourge will see that she's not worthless after all," she said quietly. Boulder could see that Bone felt a special connection to the kit, the way he looked at her reminded him how he had used to look at his son before he was banished to the streets. Maybe this kit could heal the loneliness in his heart, Boulder thought. The kit could smell Minks milk and tried to move towards her. The kit drank for a while, then curled up in her belly and began to sleep.

"What should we call her?" Mink asked. Bone looked at the white kit, and thought for a moment.

"Snowy," he said at last.


	2. Prophecys

The Broken Cat

Chapter 2

"Snowy opened her eyes for the first time today," Bone reported the minute Boulder pushed his head in the box. He couldn't help noticing Bone looked like a proud father, instead of someone who wasn't supposed to want anything to do with the kit.

"That's nice," Boulder said, dropping the dead carcass of a rat on the floor of the box. Bone crinkled his nose in disgust.

"Well it's obvious that was dead before you found it."

"Just eat it," Boulder snapped. Snowy could smell the rat and turned her head towards it.

"Snowy would get sick from this," Bone raised a paw to stop Snowy from scuffling towards it.

"And what do you suppose we do?" Boulder took a bite of the rat and nearly choked it back out himself. "This is all we have to offer."

Bone didn't look convinced. "I'm going to find Snowy a piece of fresh prey. I'll leave you to your crowfood and see you in a bit," Bone pushed his way out of the box. Boulder sighed, realizing he was going have to look after Snowy for the remainder of the day.

It was raining, hard. Rain was just starting to leak through the roof of the box, and Boulder could tell Snowy was getting cold because she kept pressing her body against his. He thought he could hear Bones voice, from farther down the alley. Boulder poked his head out of the box and nearly wished he didn't. Scourge had confronted him, wondering why he was holding a freshly killed mouse.

"You must have gone pretty far to have found this," Scourge was saying. "Is the food we catch for you not good enough anymore?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, Scourge... I just found this and saw no point in letting it go to waste." Scourge flexed his reenforced claws and glared menacingly at Bone.

"Hand it over," he hissed. Bone reluctantly dropped the mouse, and Scourge picked it up and carried it away. Bone dejectedly walked back to his box, which by this time had flopped to one side, wet from the rain.

"He took it from me," he said miserably. "He took it and now Snowy is going to starve." The kit had begun to cry, and Bone didn't get up to comfort her.

"Why are you ignoring her now? It's not your fault the mouse got taken away."

"Maybe we should have left her on the streets," Bone said without facing his friend. "She would have been pleasantly killed instead of sitting here in a box, hungry." Boulder didn't know what to say.

"I failed my son and now I'm going to fail her too," Bone pushed Snowy away, who was trying to curl up next to him. The kit started to cry, and Bone gave up his attempts to ignore her. He rolled back over and nudged the kit towards him. "I know it would be best if she wasn't here," Bone grumbled. "But I just can't do it."

Boulder shook his head in confusion. "I don't know what happened to you," he said. "You used to be so cold and you didn't really care about anything."

Bone was stroking the kit with a sheathed paw as he listened to his friend.

"What happened to you?" Bone exclaimed.

"I don't know, okay? I just feel a connection to her. If that makes me _soft _and _sensitive_ or whatever, so be it. I'm not going to reject this kit just to pretend I'm still a cold-hearted cat like everyone else in this vile place."

Poppyseed lifted her head up as she heard the lichen brush against the stone wall. Tanglestar had entered her den. He looked around for a minute, obviously stalling.

"You keep your den in good condition," he commented.

"I find it helpful to have things organized."

"I can see that," Tanglestar sniffed the line of herbs that were lined against the wall of the den. Poppyseed waiting patiently while Tanglestar slowly walked around the den, pointing out things that he thought were in order. After a few long minutes of him scuffling around the poppy seeds, he finally cleared his throat.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Tanglestar hesitated, choosing his words with caution. "I had a dream last night, and I think it was sent from Starclan."

"From Starclan? Tanglestar, you sound like a medicine cat," Poppyseed laughed. Tanglestar looked embarrassed. "I'm serious, Poppyseed. A starry cat told me something, and I don't think your going to like it." Poppyseed stopped sorting the leaves she had been shifting around with her paws.

"What did they tell you?" she asked. Tanglestar looked very uncomfortable as he spoke.

"There is someone who may be

different to the eye you see

she can fight but even though

she is stronger then you know

but there is someone living near

he will cause you pain and fear

he will win, destroy if that

the savior is the snowy cat."

Poppyseed knew what the prophecy was about before Tanglestar was even halfway done speaking.

"Amissa," she said. Tanglestar nodded.

"So I wasn't jumping to conclusions. Thank Starclan."

Poppyseed nearly wished he had kept his dream to himself. "But ... she's gone. How can she be our savior?" Poppyseed asked.

"It wouldn't be possible," Tanglestar sighed.

"Who is in the other part of the prophecy?" Poppyseed wondered. "The one promising "pain" and "fear?"

"I don't know, but if he's real, we have no chance against him. We had a savior once," Tanglestar looked scared. "But I killed her."

Poppyseed didn't know what to say. "Maybe Amissa isn't the cat," she said at last. Tanglestar had resorted back to aimlessly sifting through the poppy seeds.

"Who else would it be," Tanglestar mumbled. "Now the clan is doomed and its all my fault."

"Stop blaming yourself. Amissa's dead, and no amount of sulking around is going to change that," Poppyseed said. Tanglestar gave the poppy seeds one last pat with his paws and then dejectedly pushed his way out of the medicine den.

"It'll be okay!" Poppyseed cried, but he didn't reply.

_**Characters of le story**_

**Snowy** (Amissa)

Pretty white she-cat with a missing hind leg.

**Bone**

A cat in the self-proclaimed Bloodclan. Usually cold-hearted and mean, but has a soft spot for kits. Lost his only son to the streets, so he feels a special connection to Snowy. White pelt with one black ear.

**Boulder**

Bones best friend. Lives with him and snowy in a box in an alley. He's nice, and doesn't understand why he can't bring himself to be mean to Snowy either. Gray pelt with lighter tabby stripes.

**Scourge**

Leader of Bloodclan. Cold, nasty, and an all around mean kitty.

**Poppyseed**

The medicine cat of FrostClan. Got her name from when she was a kit, she snuck into the medicine den and ate half the poppy seeds. Brown fur with white paws.

-Frostclan is where the story takes place. Im sorry I didn't mention this earlier.

**Tanglestar**

Leader of Frostclan. Known for making compromising decisions and always having a tangled pelt.

**Mistflower**

Snowys mother. Golden pelt with shiny green eyes.

**Rowenheart **

Snowys dad. He felt no loss when his daughter was banished, but still considers himself a good hearted cat. White fur with a brown face.

_Thank you for reading ! Please review _


	3. Roses and Thorns

The Broken Cat

Chapter 3

"Im hungry!" wailed Snowy, her pink mouth showing newly grown white teeth. Boulder shot an exasperated glance at Bone, who returned his look with a flash of his narrowed eyes. Snowy had been crying for hours, complaining her stomach was rumbling so much it hurt.

"We're all hungry, Snowy. But we have to wait for the patrol to return." Bone himself hadn't eaten anything in the past two days. The food that was given to him, he gave to Snowy. Snowy slumped down against the wall of the cardboard box, with a scowl on her face.

"While you're waiting for the patrol to return, why don't you practice your jumping?" Boulder suggested mildly. Snowy scowled even harder. "I don't want to," she said. "I've been practicing for days and haven't gotten anywhere."

"Just try it for a few minutes," Boulder snapped. Bone wished the box they were residing in was bigger. It was squished with just him and Bone living in it, and with Snowy getting bigger every day it was getting out of hand. Every time someone moved, a paw would be stepped on, or whiskers tickling one another's face. Bone nearly collapsed the box as Snowy flopped into him.

"Was that the best jump you could do?" he asked, looking at her pitifully trying to stand up.

"Its hard!" Snowy protested.

"You're nearly three moons old. You should be able to at least stand up properly by now."

"I have _three_ legs!" Snowy cried. She tried to leap again, this time crashing down into Boulder.

"Oh for crying out loud," Boulder hissed. "This is getting ridiculous. Snowy should just go tell Scourge she's here. Then she'd be able to go outside like the rest of us."

"He'd tear her to shreds!" Bone said angrily. Boulder hissed and stomped out of the box.

- _"Let all cats old enough to kill their own enemies join me in a Clan meeting."_

_Bone felt an inward chill as he heard Scourges scratchy voice echo around the clearing. He was sitting on top of a garbage can, with cats already beginning to cluster around it. Bone reluctantly sat down next to Mink, who was washing her face with her paw. _

"_What's going on?" Bone whispered to her. Mink just nodded in the direction of a skinny looking tom, awkwardly sitting on a smaller can facing the cats. _

"_There is no more room in this alley for more hungry mouths," Scourge was saying. "But there is room for treacherous words. Jingle, tell everyone what you saw."_

_Jingle, who was obviously the cat sitting on the garbage can, looked petrified. _

"_All I saw were a group of cats journeying together into the forest..." he muttered. Scourge laughed his cackling laugh as he realized everyone looked confused. _

"_You idiots don't see anything, do you? We now know where we can make our home! We can leave this alley forever!" _

"_Im still confused," one cat dared to call out. Scourges head whipped around as he searched for the source of the voice. When he couldn't find it, he just sighed and continued talking. "If cats are making there homes in the forest, then we'll drive them out. We'll take their territory for ourselves, and we will be more powerful then ever!" _

_The crowd tittered for several heartbeats, then broke out into excited mews. Scourge sat there smugly, eyes glittering as he looked out over his cats. "Tell the cats who we will be attacking," Scourge said to the horrified Jingle. _

"_I heard them talking about being in some sort of ... FrostClan."_

_Scourge smiled deceivingly. "Frostclan... you will soon be no more then a forgotten memory."_

Bone was dragged out of his thoughts as Snowy made a lopsided leap into the wall of the box, causing it to collapse. "Snowy!" he snapped. He could hear her scuffling around under the box, trying to find a way out.

"Did you see that!" she said, her voice muffled. "I nearly got it right!"

"You also wrecked our home," Bone growled, as he saw Snowys head poke out from under a fold of the cardboard.

"Aw why can't I just go and tell Scourge I'm here?" she scoffed. "I'm sure he won't mind."

Bone shook his head. "Absolutely not."

"But _why?"_ Snowy cried. "I'm sick and tired of this stupid box! And what's the harm in me asking him? The worst he can do is say no!"

Bone sighed, not ready to have this conversation with her. "Look, Snowy," he said gently. "Scourge is a very mean cat... if he didn't want you here, I'm worried that he would do something to hurt you."

Snowy flattened her ears and didn't say anything. "I bet he wouldn't be mean to me," she muttered.

"Snowy, you don't want to know half the things he can do to you."

_Meanwhile_

"Poppyseed, can you help me please?" Rowenheart said, hopping on three legs into the medicine cats den. Poppyseed looked away from sorting her herbs, to look at him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I stepped on a thorn and I can't get it out," Rowenheart said. Poppyseed looked at his outstretched paw, and wrinkled her nose in repulsion. "It's really far in there," she said at last.

"I know!" Rowenheart wailed. "Please get it out!"

Poppyseed attempted to pull it out with her teeth, but couldn't get a grasp on the end.

"Did you get it?" Rowenheart asked hopefully. Poppyseed shook her head no.

"What if I can never walk again on this paw?" Rowenheart said fearfully. "I can't go through life with only three legs!"

"You wouldn't be able to live here anymore," Poppyseed said, making another dig for the thorn. Rowenheart stiffened. "Excuse me?" he growled.

"Cats with three legs aren't welcome here, remember? You said it yourself."

Silence followed her words for several minutes.

"Tanglestar wouldn't actually banish me, would he?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know, Rowenheart. Maybe it would teach you a lesson."

"I did what was right for the Clan!"

"You killed your newborn daughter."

Rowenheart snatched his paw away from the medicine cat, hurt clouding his eyes. "I'll get the thorn out myself," he said, and ran out of the den.

Poppyseed sighed and looked up through the crack in the dens roof.

_Are you up there, Amissa? Are you watching us still?_


	4. Two Dads

The Broken Cat

_Chapter 4_

Scourge resentfully pushed his way into his den, which was a crack in a red brick building. It was dusty in there, and full of bugs and dirt. Scourge crawled into the back of it, and curled into a ball. He was tired, and more than anything, starving. He had asked Boulder hours ago to bring him something to eat, but he had not seen him since. He could hear his belly growling, cramping his insides so much it hurt. Scourge opened his green eyes against the gloom of the den, glaring out into the gray and black world.

_I__hate__everyone,_he thought. _I__give__these__cats__a__place__to__live,__and__they__treat__me__like__dirt.__Why__shouldn__'__t__I__make__them__fear__me?__Why__shouldn__'__t__they__bow__to__me,__I__gave__them__a__life__off__the__streets._

Scourge shut his eyes again, dark thoughts spinning in his mind.

_They're all just a bunch of misfits. Stupid, worthless, cats. I wish they were dead. _

Scourge felt his heart hurt as he thought these things. He felt his paws numb as he realized every cat he cat grown close to in his eight months of being alive, they all hated him, or feared him.

_They are stupid. They are too dumb to understand that maybe I wouldn't hate them the way I do, _

Scourge felt his mind drifting off into sleep.

_If they all didn't hate me._

Poppyseed listened to the pounding of paws coming from the gorse entrance. The evening patrol was back, and by the sounds of it, they brought in dinner for the clan. She pushed her head out of her den entrance, and saw Tanglestar, Rowenheart and a she-cat named Whitewhisker dropping their catches on the fresh kill pile. Poppyseed noticed Rowenheart limping; his paw was getting worse.

"Hi!" Poppyseed greeted them. Tanglestar stopped proudly admiring his thrush to look up at the medicine cat.

"Look at the haul we brought in!" he exclaimed happily. "There will be no hungry bellies tonight."

"Good job," Poppyseed marveled.

"Rowenheart had a hard time keeping up sometimes," Whitewhisker commented, making him squirm uncomfortably.

Poppyseed realized with a jolt that Rowenheart had not told them about the thorn.

"I noticed that too," Tanglestar said mildly as he drew a paw to wash his face. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel fine," Rowenheart mumbled. "I just pulled a muscle when I leaped too far," Rowenheart said, then started padding his way off to the warriors den.

"He's limping!" Whitewhisker gasped. "Poppyseed, you should go check on him."

Poppyseed narrowed her eyes. "I plan to," she growled.

"Be careful what you say!" Whitewhisker called after her. "He's very proud!"

Poppyseed didn't reply, focused on what she was going to say to her clanmate, who outright _lied_ to his clan leader! Poppyseed peered into the warriors den, and saw Rowenheart desperately digging into his paw. The pad was very swollen, and a painful shade of red. She could see tears brimming at Rowenhearts eyes; he was obviously in a lot of pain.

"Would you like some help?" Poppyseed asked softly. Rowenhearts head snapped up as he realized she was standing there. "So you can tell me I'm going to be exiled and I deserve it?" he mumbled. "No thanks."

"Look, Rowenheart…" Poppyseeds voice trailed off. "I didn't seriously mean you would have to leave the clan, I just wanted you to learn a little humility."

Rowenheart continued searching for the thorn and didn't reply.

"Whether we like it or not, some cats are going to be born with defects. The right thing we should have done with Amissa was let her live, and teach her to cope. It was wrong to let her die, and I'm sorry we did it. But that doesn't mean we'd do the same thing to you if you couldn't use your leg anymore."

Rowenheart rested his injured paw lightly on the ground. He flinched, very slightly. Poppyseed pretended not to notice.

"Don't sit there and pretend you're not enjoying this," he hissed. "Starclans trying to teach me a lesson, and so are you. I will not life the same fate as my daughter," he pushed himself up on one paw, holding the injured one high off the ground. Poppyseed was blank for words as he pushed past her, and felt angry with herself for being so cruel to him, when it was so blatantly obvious he needed help.

"Look!" Snowy squealed. She was walking without stumbling, and Bone was impressed.

"Good job," he grunted. Snowy charged over to him and collapsed onto his exposed belly.

"Oof!" Bones breath was driven out of him. "Snowy, don't you think you're getting a little big for that?"

Snowy nuzzled her head into his belly. "I'm never too old to play with my dad!" she squealed. Bone stopped short, and didn't even react when Snowy tickled him with her tail. Boulder had heard her too, and was looking over at him with a grim expression on his face.

"I'm going outside," Boulder announced, and when Snowy wasn't looking he mouthed the words "Tell her!" to Bone. Bone pushed Snowy off him, and looked at her seriously. "Snowy, you know I'm not your dad, don't you?"  
>Snowy scuffed her paws on the cardboard ground. "I know," she said sadly. "I just forget sometimes."<p>

Bone looked at her, wishing he actually was her father.

"It's just that, when I poke my head outside to get fresh air, all I see is young cats playing with their parents. Mink has three kits of her own, and I've seen that golden tabby who lives in the box next to us play with his sons. I don't have any parents," Snowy said, her eyes brimming with sadness.

"Well, Snowy you're lucky. Do you know why?" Bone said gently.

"Why?"

"Because you have two dads. Boulder and I love you like a daughter."

Snowy brightened at this. "_Two_dads?" she said happily. Bone nodded his head. Snowy squeaked with excitement and barreled out of the box. It took two seconds for Bone to realize what she had done. He thrust his head under the cardboard flap. "Snowy!" he cried. "Get back in here before Scourge sees-"

His voice cut off and blood ran cold. Scourge had noticed Snowy, and was making his way towards her. 


	5. Screams and Scourge

**Hello everyone! I apologize for all the confusion in my stories, regarding the site altering them to the point of ridicule. I put in page breakers, and little dash things to clarify when the paragraph changes to someone else's point of view. Its SO annoying to look at it after I post it and all my efforts are gone. So please remember that, when the story suddenly changes dramatically to another scene.**

The Broken Cat

_Chapter 5_

Cats around the clearing gasped with fear as Scourge stalked over to Snowy. Bone felt as though every drop of blood had drained from his body. Scourge cowered over her, narrowing his eyes. Snowy sat up bravely, looking Scourge straight in the eye. Not a cat dared move a whisker.

"Hi," Snowy said kindly.

"I thought I said you weren't allowed to be here," Scourge hissed through gritted teeth. Every cat in the alley looked petrified, except for Snowy.

"That was before, when everyone thought I was useless because of my leg. But look," Snowy jumped into the air. "I can walk and jump like everyone else here!" Snowy said proudly. Bone held his breath, unable to believe Snowy would talk back to Scourge. Scourge didn't say anything, just continued to watch Snowy walk in little circles proving that she was able to do it.

"And I'm learning how to run too," Snowy started awkwardly stumbling forward. "It'll be difficult, but-"

"Shut up," Scourge hissed. Snowy was so surprised by the hatred in his voice she tripped and fell onto her belly. Scourge planted a paw on her back, digging his claws into her fur.

"Look at you," he growled hatefully as Snowy started crying. "You're worthless. Do you think anyone's going to care about you with only three legs? Do you think anyone's going to love you?" Scourge yelled. Bone had never seen Scourge so angry in his entire life.

"Do you think anyone will love you?" Scourge repeated, pushing his other paw into the soft part of Snowys throat. Blood began to well up there, and Snowy started coughing out her own blood.

"Yes," she choked out. She started to say something else, but started coughing and stopped trying. Scourge released her, surprised.

"What did you say?" he said.

Snowy didn't move.

Scourge prodded her aggressively with a paw. "Get up," he said. Bone noticed that Scourge looked very uncomfortable, glancing at the shocked faces around him. Scourge bent his head down to speak to Snowy, whispering meanly in her ear.

"Get up. Now, or I'll kill you."

Snowy forced herself to sit up. She gave her chest a few feeble licks, looking like she was about to collapse any second. Blood stained her white fur, clotted around her throat. Bone was just on the verge of running over there to help her, but then she opened her mouth and surprised everyone, including Scourge.

"THAT _HURT!_" she screamed. "THAT REALLY, REALLY HURT! I COULD HAVE DIED!"

Scourge was so taken aback he didn't reply.

"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I DID THAT TO YOU, HUH? JEEZ!" Snowy screeched.

No one had ever, ever talked to Scourge like that before, and Bone was terrified how he would react. Snowy glared at him, eyes bloodshot and angry. Scourges expression was unreadable as he looked back at her.

"You can … stay," he said at last. Snowys eyes widened in surprise, just like every other cat in the alley. Then he turned and stalked away, but not before Snowy saw it. No one else did by the looks of it, but it was there.

As Scourge walked away, Snowy caught the faintest of smiles on his face.

**(Insert page breaker here)**

"Rowenheart, I want you to go on a patrol with Seedpaw and Whitewhisker," Tanglestar said. He was organizing a hunting patrol. Poppyseed sat near them, waiting for the chance to ask to join them. She didn't want to hunt, of course. But since the snow had started to melt, Poppyseed wanted to go out and search for the starting buds of marigold. They wouldn't be in full bloom until newleaf, but Poppyseed figured it would be a good idea if she located some good spots to remember for when they were fully grown. As Tanglestar continued talking, Poppyseed shot a glance at Rowenheart. He was tenderly holding his paw to the ground, and Poppyseed could see from where she was sitting that his paw was getting noticeably worse. He had flinched when Tanglestar read his name for a patrol, obviously dreading the thought of stalking prey with his lame paw. The sound of paw steps made Poppyseed look over, Mistflower was walking towards her with a worried expression on her face.

"Would you mind having a look at Rowenheart?" she asked. "He looks like he's ill."

Poppyseed inwardly rolled her eyes. _He hasn__'__t even told his own mate what__'__s hurting him._

"Yeah, I'll talk to him," Poppyseed replied. Mistflower looked sad. "I don't understand what's going on with him lately. He's acting tired and pained all the time, and whenever I ask him if he's sick he lies and says no!"

"I think he'll talk when the pain gets worse," Poppyseed said vaguely. Then she walked away towards the patrol before Mistflower could say anything else.

"Tanglestar, would I be able to tag along with the warriors? Id like to find a good source for marigold for when newleaf arrives."

"That would be a good idea," Tanglestar agreed. "And please stick with them," he said. "I don't want you out by yourself in case you run into a fox or rogue."

Poppyseed nodded. She knew that Tanglestar wasn't worried about a fox, he was worried about his dream from Starclan that promised "pain and fear." Since they'd heard nothing about him, Poppyseed was beginning to wonder if Tanglestar had just eaten a stale mouse before he had gone to bed, giving him funny dreams.

"Let's go!" Seedpaw said excitedly. Whenever Poppyseed looked at Seedpaw she couldn't help but imagine how it would look if he was her apprentice. _Poppyseed and Seedpaw._ No one would be able to take them seriously.

"Good luck!" Tanglestar called as the patrol bounded away. Poppyseed followed more slowly, letting them run just a bit ahead. Rowenheart on the other hand was trying to keep up, but his injured paw caused him to limp behind them nearly slower then Poppyseed. When Whitewhisker turned around to look for him, Rowenheart forced himself to run over to her, and Poppyseed couldn't bear to hold it in any longer.

"Stop!" she shouted. The patrol skidded to a halt instantly to look back at her. Rowenheart glared at her, willing her not to tell. She ignored him. She opened her mouth to say something, and nearly choked on her tongue as a lie seeped through her lips.

"I hurt my paw," Poppyseed lied. "I'm going to need help getting back to camp."

The cats looked sympathetically at her. "Are you okay?" Seedpaw cried.

"Yes," Poppyseed felt rotten lying to her clanmates, but something was holding her back from telling them about Rowenheart. "I just tripped over a root and stepped on it funny."

"I'll take her back," Rowenheart said. "You go ahead without me, and I'll catch up." Whitewhisker and Seedpaw agreed, then bounded off into the bush. The second they were gone, Rowenheart lifted his paw and blinked away the mask that was hiding his pain. "I don't know what to do," he said miserably. "The skin has swelled so much over the thorn!"

Poppyseed looked at it. "We're getting it out," she decided. "Right now. There is no point in you stumbling around on it every day."

"But it's gonna hurt real bad!" Rowenheart wailed.

"It's hurt, yes. But then it'll be gone and you won't have to worry about it anymore."

Rowenheart squeezed his eyes shut and stretched out his paw to Poppyseed. "Do it. Just yank it out," he said through gritted teeth. Poppyseed took a deep breath, and forced herself not to gag as she tried to find the head of the thorn with her teeth. Almost at once Rowenheart howled and yanked his paw away. Poppyseed hissed. "Don't do that!" she snapped.

"Well, it really really hurts!" Rowenheart cried. But he stretched his paw out again. Poppyseed had a feeling there was only one solution, and she dared not tell Rowenheart, or he would have charged after the patrol whether his paw hurt or not. As gently as she could, Poppyseed lowered her mouth to his swollen pad. She softly sat her teeth on the reddest part of the swelling. She could feel Rowenheart flinch, then relax as she didn't do anything.

And then it happened.

Poppyseed squeezed her eyes shut, clasped her teeth around his skin, and yanked.

Rowenhearts scream echoed off every single tree in the forest. Poppyseed spat out the chunk of his paw she had bit off, and sighed in relief when she saw the thorn resting in the bloody pulp. Rowenheart continued screaming, jumping around on his three legs. Poppyseed ripped a leaf off the nearest tree with her teeth, and chased after Rowenheart. She had to leap on him to stop him from jumping like a maniac. He whimpered as Poppyseed pressed the leaf tightly onto his paw.

"Put pressure on this," she instructed. Shaking, Rowenheart did as he was told. They sat in silence for a few moments, then Poppyseed stood up.

"Let's get back to camp and get a proper wrap over that paw," she said. Rowenheart forced himself to stand out.

"That was, without a doubt, the most painful thing that I've ever encountered," Rowenheart mumbled. Poppyseed nodded her head in the direction of the thorn. "But look," she said. "The thorns gone."

"So is half my body," Rowenheart replied.

"That is not _half your body. _It's a small amount of skin that will grow back on your paw."

"I can't believe you did that," Rowenheart said. Poppyseed didn't reply.

"Thank you," he said at last. "I really appreciate it."

Poppyseed smiled, glad they were friends again.

**(insert page breaker here)**

Bone was lying down, trying to recover from the shock. He couldn't _believe _Snowy had so openly defied Scourge. He had never seen such an amazing act of confidence ... or stupidity. He told himself that he was really gonna let her have it when he saw her next. But then Snowy pushed her way into the box... and he just couldn't bring himself to scold her. Her fluffy kit fur was clotted with blood, crusting around her neck like a sickly collar. She looked like a battle-worn warrior, not a three month old kit.

"Did you see what happened out there?" Snowy said, annoyed. "Scourge made quite the scene."

Bone was baffled by the fact that she looked irritated, not scared or sad.

"What in the world were you possibly thinking?" Bone exploded. "You could have been killed for crying out loud!"

Snowy snorted. "What did you expect me to do? Cry?"

"Well, yes!" Bone said. "Snowy, he nearly clawed your throat out!"

Snowy began washing the blood off her fur. "I'm still alive, aren't I?" she mumbled.

Bone felt exasperated. "You scared me," he said softly. "When you were lying on the ground, I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry," Snowy hung her head dejectedly.

"I'm also extremely proud of you," Bone admitted. Snowy brightened at this.

"Did you see the look on his face when I yelled at him? He looked like he was about to be thrown in a river!" Snowy opened her mouth in fake shock as she mocked Scourge.

"Seriously, I don't see why everyone is so darn scared of the guy," Snowy continued. "I could still see kit fur sticking out from under his collar."

Bone was blank for words.

_She's not scared of him,_ he thought to himself.

_Why can't she see how dangerous he is?_


	6. Looking Back At Him

The Broken Cat

Chapter 6

Snowy trotted around the alley, trying to stretch out her hind leg. She figured she must have slept on it funny, there was no other reason she could think of why it would be sore.

"Good morning, Snowy!" Boulder yawned as he pushed his way out of his box into the alley.

"You're up early today."

"My leg is bothering me," Snowy grumbled. Boulder snorted.

"That would be unfortunate if you couldn't use that leg anymore too."

"Oh ha ha," Snowy snapped. Boulder smiled at her sarcasm. "Make sure you come in if you get cold," he said, teeth chattering in the cold air. Then he pushed himself back into the warmth of his box, which looked like it had seen better days. The cardboard was sagging in the roof, and the walls were wet and dirty from the times it had fallen over. Suddenly Snowy heard her name being called. She looked around, searching for the source of the voice. A golden tabby was looking in her direction. Snowy figured he must have been the one who called her. As she walked lopsidedly over to him, she desperately tried to remember his name so she wouldn't have to ask. At the very last second she remembered - Nero.

"Hello," Snowy said. Nero narrowed his eyes at her kind tone.

"Hi," he said gruffly, not used to being polite. "I'm going out with Aristol to see if we can find some food."

Snowy looked at the skinny grey she cat sitting beside Nero, and figured she must be Aristol.

"I'd like to come!" Snowy said, excitedly. "I've never been hunting before."

"We're hunting. You're the bait," Aristol sneered. Snowy decided she must have been joking.

_What the heck would they need bait for?_

To Snowys dismay, Aristol was being completely serious.

"It's not that difficult," Nero hissed as Snowy looked skeptically at the door. "Just sit there and meow."

"But what if they throw stuff at me?" Snowy cried.

"I told you she'd be useless," Aristol said rudely. Snowy bristled at Aristols open display of hostility. She stalked up with her tail held high, making her best effort not to wobble on her hind leg. Nero and Aristol watched in silence. Snowy opened her mouth and began to pitifully cry.

_This is dumb, _Snowy thought as she let out another mew. But then the door opened, and the biggest twoleg Snowy had ever seen stared down at her. His face broke out into a smile, and he reached down to pet her on the head. A flash of fur distracted Snowy, Nero and Aristol had streaked past her into the house. The mouth-watering smell of meat tickled Snowys nose. She desperately hoped they would be able to get some of it. The twoleg continued to pet her, making funny cooing noises as he talked to her. As fast as they'd come, they were gone. Snowy saw in the corner of her eye the golden pelt of Nero charging past her again. Snowy opened her mouth again and let out another whine. The twoleg stopped petting her and walked back into his house. Snowy started to walk back towards Nero, but stopped when he raised his paw. She looked confused at him. Then she heard footsteps behind her and turned around. The twoleg was leaning down, putting a piece of meat on the ground. He gave Snowy on last pat on the head and then walked inside, shutting the door. Snowy picked it up, and carried it back over to Nero and Aristol. Aristols mouth was open in astonishment as she looked at what Snowy had managed to get.

"Good job," Nero said, impressed. "I've never seen him react like that before."

Snowy puffed out her chest, humbled by his praise. She noticed Aristol scuffling her paws in the dirt, and Snowy saw why. She had gotten a bigger piece of meat than her.

"Not so useless after all, huh," Snowy said.

They did that for nearly half the day, and each time they were successful. When they walked back to the alley, Snowy had never felt better in her entire life. Nero and Aristol walked behind her, with Snowy in the lead. She held the biggest piece of their findings, and it made Snowy swell with pride as she looked at the impressed faces looking at her. They each dropped the meat into a pile in the center of the clearing. Snowy saw Bone talking with Mink a little farther off. He must of sensed her looking at him, because he turned and their eyes met. When he saw her next to the pile of food, he bounded over proudly.

"Look at what we caught," Snowy said.

"Wow," Bone said. There was more food in the pile there than he had ever seen at once in his whole life.

"Snowy was great," Nero said, looking over at Bone. "She got nearly half of that herself."

"She did a good job," Aristol said warily, shooting a glance at Snowy. Snowy felt like she was going to burst with happiness.

"Thanks for all the compliments!" Snowy cried, leaping into the air because she was so excited.

Cats had started to join them, some taking their share of the food.

"Snowy gets the biggest piece," Nero decided. Snowy grinned even harder. She looked around the clearing, wondering where Boulder was. As her eyes passed the cracked brick wall, Snowy stopped. Scourge sat there, hunched over his front paws. His green eyes glared out at them, but he made no effort to get up and join them.

"Should I go bring something to Scourge?" Snowy asked Nero. Nero looked over at him, then snorted. "He can get his own," he said. "He didn't do one thing to help get this."

Snowy looked back at him. "But he looks so sad," she said quietly.

"Personally, I think he deserves it."

Snowy sighed and took a bite of her meal. It was delicious, after eating nothing but crowfood for the past few weeks, it tasted like it was a gift sent from Starclan. Her excitement had faded, though. She kept glancing back at Scourge, but that wasn't the problem.

The problem was, he kept glancing back at her.

Snowy choked down the rest of her meal as fast as she could then charged back into her box. Her head was spinning, and she didn't understand why. But her comprehending thoughts were crushed almost instantly. Boulder was lying on his side, facing away from her.

"Hey," Snowy said. She peered over him, hoping to catch his eye. His eyes were closed.

"Boulder?" her voice quivered. She reached out a paw to touch him.

He was ice cold.

Numb with shock and confusion, Snowy stumbled out of the box towards the cats crowding around the meat.

"Hey! Come and join us," Bone called over to her. He was sharing his meal with Mink. Snowy just looked at him, her eyes blank. All her happiness from before was drained.

"Boulders dead," she whispered.

Bone pricked his ears. "What did you say?" he asked.

"Boulders dead," Snowy repeated. She felt like her insides were crumbling. Bones ears flattened.

"No he's not," he said.

"Yes, he is!" Snowy cried.

"That's nonsense I was just talking to him half an hour ago!" Bone was getting tired of Snowys silliness. Snowy stopped arguing and stood there, trembling.

"He was so cold," she whispered. Something in her tone made Bone scared.

"Is he really..." his voice trailed off as he walked towards the box. By this time, other cats had begun to watch, murmuring uneasily among one another. Bone walked out of the box several minutes later, eyes wide and glazed.

"He's dead," he said dumbly. Snowy miserably nodded her head.

"HE'S DEAD!" Bone yelled, then collapsed onto his side.

Snowy slowly walked through the crack in the brick wall that led to Scourges den. He opened his eyes as she stood before him.

"Did I say you could come in?" he growled. But it was obvious he was tired, and his voice sounded wary, not threatening. Snowy dropped the last bit of meat to the ground.

"It's for you," she said, her voice monotone. Then she turned and started to walk out.

"I'm sorry," Scourge said. Snowy, who's thoughts were all focused on Boulder, didn't hear him properly.

"What?"

"I said, I'm sorry," Scourge growled. Snowy stood still for a moment.

"For what?" she said at last.

"I didn't mean to make you bleed," he said, not looking at her. Snowy realized he was talking about the other day, when he had her pinned down.

"Oh, that," Snowy said. "Don't worry about it. I'll heal."

Scourge turned away from her, voice wary again. "Good. Now leave."

Snowy hesitated, wanting to say something but didn't know how.

"What are you doing?" Scourge snapped, still turned away.

"Remember when you asked me if I thought anyone would ever love me?"

No reply.

"Maybe you should try and ask yourself that too," Snowy said.

"Get out," Scourge sighed. Snowy turned and stalked out. She didn't look back.

Scourge, however, did.


	7. The Collar

The Broken Cat

Chapter 7: The Collar

"You're gonna catch a cold, from the ice inside your soul," Snowy sang. "So don't come back to me! Don't come back at all!"

"Shut up!" an angry voice made Snowy stop singing at once.

"Sorry!" she called back. Snowy was very bored and singing was making the time pass. It had been three weeks since Boulder had died, and it seemed as if everyone was nearly recovered. Everyone except Bone, that is. All he did was sit in his box, and he didn't talk to anyone. Snowy pushed her way in, and loudly cleared her throat. Bone didn't budge.

"Hi," Snowy said. "Come and play with me."

Bone didn't move.

"Please," Snowy pleaded. "You have to face the world at one point."

Bone slowly turned over to look at her. "Go play with someone else," he said harshly. "And get out of my face."

Snowy stared at him, taken aback by his meanness. "Fine," she snapped. "I didn't want to play with you anyway!" Snowy stormed out of the box. She noticed Nero sitting by himself across the alley. Snowy trotted over to him, and pretended not to notice the annoyed expression cross his face.

"Want to play a game with me?" Snowy asked.

"No."

Snowy felt anger slowly rising inside her.

"I thought we were friends," Snowy said. Nero just smirked. "My friends are not useless, annoying, mutated little kits," he said scathingly. A red haze blurred Snowys vision. But before she could do anything, she heard Scourges voice ring angrily around the hollow.

"Join me for a Clan meeting!" he shouted. At once cats stopped what they were doing and ran over at his command. Snowy took her time, and strolled slowly over to him.

"Move it, Snowy!" a cat angrily thrust her to the side. Snowy tried to catch herself, but collapsed. Another cat took the initiative to stomp over her on his way to Scourge. Snowy had never felt this much anger in her entire life.

_I'm going kill someone, _she thought mutinously. _Yank the life out of them until they're no more than an empty shell._

"The time is near," Scourge was yelling. "At the full moon we attack Frostclan!"

Cat screeched and screamed, flexing their claws and throwing back their heads to howl in excitement.

Snowy stood deathly still.

"We must start training," Scourge paced the ledge where he stood. "I need you all at your best! Any cat unable to sustain the training will be killed, as practice for the others."

"We're going to kill them?" Snowy said involuntarily. All eyes shifted to her. Scourges eyes flared. "We're going to kill every last one of them," he hissed. "Are you volunteering for a practice round?"

Cats snickered and sneered. "She'd be no good in a fight. She'd be shredded in an instant!"

Snowys head snapped around to locate the voice, and became face to face with Aristol. With a blood curling scream Snowy dived at her, claws extended. Aristols surprised face made Snowy laugh as she violently raked her claws down Aristols side. She screamed, and leaped on top of her. Snowy used all her strength to heave Aristol off of her, and leaped on top of her and planted her paw on Aristols neck. Aristol couldn't move, and Snowy took the opportunity. She whipped her head at the others.

"I am not volunteering to be a _practice victim!" _Snowy screamed. "Do you want this to happen to you?" Snowy pressed her paws into Aristols soft throat. An odd sense of déjà vu briefly shot through Snowy, but she ignored it. She gave Aristol on last claw on the ear but then stood off her. Cats stood in shock as Snowy leaped up onto Scourges ledge.

"WE WILL TAKE DOWN FROSTCLAN!" Snowy screeched. "AND WE WILL WIN!"

Cats howled in agreement. Snowy grinned, her eyes narrowing.

"WE WILL TEAR THEM APART!" Snowy yowled. The cats were starting to get excited again, stomping their paws on the ground and tearing up clumps of grass. Snowy walked to the ledge of the clearing, her shadow was a blanket over the cats below.

"We will show them no mercy," her voice echoed eerily across the alley. "Does anyone have any questions, suggestions?" Snowy didn't wait for an answer. "I do. Scourge," she turned her head to him. "You need a deputy. Someone to help you plan the attack."

Scourges expression was unreadable.

"Unless you think you can do it by yourself," Snowy challenged. Scourge finally regained his ability to talk.

"Are you done?" Scourge growled.

Then it happened. Every last scrap of Snowys confidence and anger melted, and she stood there, shaking. "Yes," she squeaked. Then she jumped off the ledge and ran to the back of the alley.

Everyone waited to see what Scourge would say.

"She's right," he said at last. Snowys eyes stretched wide. Scourge nodded to Aristol, who was still lying on the ground. "Jag, bring me her collar."

"As you wish," Jag said. Snowy flinched as Jag ripped off the collar with such force Aristol went unconscious again. Jag carried the collar to Scourge and dropped it at his feet.

"I will think about who will be my deputy tonight," Scourge said. "I will leave this collar by them, and the one who gets it will stand by me. However," Scourges eyes turned to slits again.  
>"Everyone else be on guard. Anyone who defies us will be thrown out, or killed."<p>

The meeting broke up, and cats returned to what they were doing. Still trembling, Snowy walked back to her box to lie down. Bone was waiting for her.

"Hi," he said quietly.

Snowy ignored him and curled up into a ball.

"Would you like to play a game with me?" Bone asked, voice shaking. With every last scrap of dignity she had, Snowy narrowed her eyes at him.

"Go play with someone else," she hissed. "And get out of my face."

Bones shoulders sagged and he dejectedly sat down next to her. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I wasn't thinking about what I was saying. I really am sorry, Snowy," he said.

Snowy forced herself to ignore him.

"That was really quite the scene you made," Bone whispered. "Do you realize what you've done?"

Snowy knew exactly what she'd done. She'd confirmed many innocent cats would die, due to her own anger. She didn't reply to Bone, who'd sighed and turned his back to her. Snowy closed her eyes, knowing she wouldn't sleep. She was scared at what she had started, and more importantly, she was scared of the cat she had just created. It was a frightening thought, and Snowy didn't know what to do. How had she let herself become one of them? Snowys thoughts slowly faded as she fell asleep.

_Later_

Snowy woke up to something sharp prodding into her side. Cursing under her breath, she opened her eyes to see what was bothering her. It was a very elaborate collar, with claws and teeth sticking out of it. Snowy was confused for a minute, and then it hit her.

Scourge chose her.


	8. Murderer With a Kind Heart?

The Broken Cat

Chapter 8 : Murderer with a Kind Heart?

Snowy stared at the demonic collar, thoughts spinning. _There must be a mistake, _she thought. _He probably meant to give it to Bone. _Bone lay on his side beside her, snoring loudly. Snowy prodded him in the side with her paw.

"Get up," she said. Bone sneezed and shot up. "What's going on?" he coughed.

"I think Scourge chose you as his deputy," Snowy explained. "I found this poking me in the side," Snowy showed him the collar. Bone twitched his ears as he looked at it. "You found it next to you?" he asked. Snowy shrugged. "Yeah."

"Then he chose you as his deputy, Snowy."

Snowy gulped nervously. "Oh," she whispered.

"Want me to help you put it on?" Bone offered. Snowy didn't know if she even wanted to wear the thing, it was so ghastly looking.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice," Snowy faked a laugh which came out sounding like a wheeze. She hooked it around her neck and closed her eyes as Bone tightened the clasp with his teeth. When he was done he stood back, examining her.

Snowy was not used to wear a collar, and she forced herself not to flinch at the pinching around her neck.

"So? How do I look?" she asked. Bones expression was neutral.

"You look like a member of Bloodclan," was his reply. Snowys shoulders sagged. "I bet it looks goofy," she muttered. "I don't know what the heck Scourge was thinking."

**Meanwhile**

Poppyseed was relieved Rowenhearts paw had healed so quickly. She saw him charging around the clearing, bragging to whoever would listen about the rabbit he had caught while hunting. On his way over to Mistflower, Rowenheart didn't even see Tanglestar. He was stretched out on some grass, enjoying the sun. Rowenheart barreled into him, and crashed over him into a bush. Poppyseed smiled, trying not to laugh. Tanglestar sat up and started whining that Rowenheart had ruined his nap. Rowenheart was so embarrassed, rambling off apologies at top speed. Tanglestar just grunted and flopped back down. Rowenheart stopped charging after that, and proceeded to walk slowly around the clearing with such little enthusiasm it was painful to watch. Poppyseed turned her attention back to her patient. Seedpaw had hurt his leg, landing on it funny when he fell into a rabbit hole.

"Poppyseed? Can I ask you something?" Seedpaw asked as Poppyseed carefully tied a brace around his leg. "Ask away," she murmured.

"A starclan cat spoke to me last night," he said.

"Oh really... are you sure it wasn't just dream about someone?"

"Well, that's what I thought at first. But she didn't look like a normal cat... she was so odd looking," Seedpaw said. Poppyseed chuckled inwardly. Young apprentices were always coming up to her with stuff like this.

"Maybe you're destined to be a medicine cat," Poppyseed joked. "What did the cat look like?"

"She was real pretty, but also kind of scary. She had this hideous collar of teeth wrapped around her neck."

"That sounds uncomfortable," Poppyseed said, playing along.

"I didn't get how she could walk," Seedpaw said, confused.

"Why? Did she hurt her leg from falling into a rabbit hole?" Poppyseed teased.

"No. She was missing one of her legs."

Poppyseed choked on the leaf wrap she was holding in her jaws. "What?" she coughed.

"She had three legs," Seedpaw said slowly, confused on why Poppyseed had spat his leaf wrap all over the ground.

"What did she say to you?" Poppyseed whispered. This made Seedpaw freeze. "Um, I don't entirely remember," he stumbled over his words, obviously lying. "I was just wondering if that's what Starclan cats are supposed to look like. Elders have told me starclan cats are supposed to be starry and kind, but the cat I saw was scary and not at all comforting."

Poppyseed stood rigid. "Tell me what she told you," she said quietly.

"She spoke of an attack, to be launched on the full moon. It can't mean anything, right Poppyseed? Why would she want to hurt us?" Seedpaw whimpered.

"How did she tell you this?" Poppyseed choked.

Seedpaw sat not speaking for a minute, trying to remember.

"_My life was started in the cold_

_When I asked, nobody told_

_In this life I call to you_

_speaking of what we will do_

_I'm against the freakish kills_

_brought upon against your will_

_you don't deserve what we will earn_

_I cannot make the choices turn_

_at the full moon we will attack_

_so tell your cats and watch your back_

_I cannot stop what has been done_

_But there's a chance if you will run."_

Seedpaw recited the poem with his voice trembling. "Why is she threatening us?" he wailed. Realization hit Poppyseed so hard she nearly fell over.

"It's not a threat," she whispered.

"It's a warning."

**(Insert page breaker here)**

All eyes stared at Snowy, who was doing her best to ignore them. The collar was attracting a lot of attention, and to Snowys dismay, it wasn't the good kind. Death glares were ripping into her from every direction, from jealous cats who wanted the deputy position. The only good thing coming out of the whole charade was the fact that if anyone defied Snowy, they'd be torn apart limb from limb. _It's kind of reassuring," _Snowy thought glumly. _But I wonder what they'd do to me if they knew I warned a cat in Frostclan about the attack? _Snowy shook away the thought as Scourge came into her view. Snowy felt like all the blood drained out of her body, she had not seen Scourge since she defied him the other yesterday about choosing a deputy.

"Hello," Scourge said. Snowy vaguely got the impression he was trying to make his tone polite. Instead of usually sounding threatening, his voice just sounded sneering.

"Hi," Snowy said, then mentally kicked herself when her voice cracked.

"Come to my den," Scourge snapped, then turned around and stalked away.

_Good morning Snowy, would you please come to my den? _Snowy snickered as she imagined Scourge saying that. Snowy ignored the mutinous glares cascading in her direction as she followed Scourge into his den. Snowy was expecting it to be scary and threatening, but that wasn't the case.

Snowy could not put into words how profoundly awkward it was.

"Um, thanks for choosing me as your deputy. I won't let you down," Snowy said, not knowing what else to say.

"You're the only one out of all these pitiful cats that seemed enthusiastic about the attack," Scourge replied. "You're also the only one with an opinion, it seems."

Snowy awkwardly shuffled her paws.

"But don't get me wrong," Scourge hissed. "Don't go thinking your going to get the special treatment from me just because your wearing that collar around your neck. Want to know the main reason chose you?"

"Yeah," Snowy squeaked.

"Because I can trust you," Scourges voice was seething. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah," Snowys voice got even higher.

"Good," Scourges voice softened and for the first time Snowy saw his features, without being twisted by anger or hatred.

"You're eyes are a beautiful shade of blue," Snowy said without thinking. "You should stop squinting them all the time."

At once his eyes narrowed and he hissed in disgust. "Be quiet," he spat. At once Snowy shut her mouth to make sure she didn't say anything else.

"Now, I've been meaning to ask you if you had any ideas for the attack," Scourge said. "Since you're my deputy I guess it's only appropriate if I let you help with the decisions."

Snowy felt her heart go all fuzzy, and she forgot it wasn't a good idea to smile in front of Scourge.

"What?" Scourge demanded.

"I just feel so happy!" Snowy cried. Scourge just stared at her.

"You are so ..." Scourge tried to think of an insult and failed. "Ugh I don't even know what you are!"

"Thank you," Snowy said.

"That wasn't a compliment!" Scourge snapped.

"It sounded like one," Snowy replied.

"That's nonsense, if I was going to compliment you I'd mention how well you fought Aristol yesterday," Scourge retorted.

"It was pretty impressive, huh," Snowy grinned. Scourge shook his head as he looked at Snowys expression. "For crying out loud, stop smiling!"

Snowy tried to stop smiling and ended up looking like she was holding in a sneeze.

An unwilling smile stretched across Scourges face.

"Stop it," he growled, turning his face away.

"Hee hee," the giggle forced it's way out of Snowys lips.

"Okay you can leave now," Scourge said without facing her. "Goodbye."

Snowy happily walked out of his den, feeling better then she had in weeks. She decided it was time to apologize to Boulder for being so rude yesterday, so she pushed her way into the box to try and find him. He was eating a piece of who knows what in the corner.

"Hi," Snowy sang. Boulder looked up at her. "You seem like your in a good mood," he noted. "Where were you?"

"Hanging out with Scourge," Snowy said, yawning as if it were no big deal.

"Oh really. Let me guess, you laughed and giggled and groomed each others fur?"

"Nope. We discussed battle plans."

Bone just sighed warily and continued eating his unidentified meal.

"I think we're becoming friends," Snowy waggled her eyebrows at him. Bone snorted.

"When will you learn Snowy," he sighed. "That being friends with Scourge is a dangerous idea?"

Snowy rolled her eyes. "I think he's a nice cat," she said. "I don't think he's dangerous at all."

"Well, give it a bit and you'll see. And by the way what the heck were you thinking yesterday?" Bones angry tone took Snowy by surprise.

"What happened to you? I thought you were against fighting, but then you go and kill Aristol in cold blood."

"I didn't kill her."

"But you wounded her so badly, Snowy. She died last night in her sleep," Bone growled. Snowys heart nearly stopped beating. "I didn't mean to," she whispered. Bone just shook his head.

"I really didn't mean to!" Snowy cried. "I was just trying to prove a point!"

"Well, point proven. Congratulations."

"It's just that everyone was being so mean.. And I thought if I showed them... oh, Bone what have I done?" Snowy bawled. Bone rested his tail on her back.

"It's okay, Snowy. You just need to realize violence isn't the answer to a problem," Bone said sympathetically.

"Yeah well, that's not gonna be the case when we attack Frostclan," Snowy sniffed.

"Yeah, and thanks to you, we're not gonna have a choice to fight them or not! What happened to you yesterday? I saw a completely different cat standing on that ledge, telling Scourge to make a new deputy. I lost sight of the caring, understanding kit that I've been raising."

"I'm not a kit," Snowy mumbled.

"You're right. You're a very mature cat, who's capable of making her own choices. I hope you realize you are an amazing cat already, and don't have to turn into a mean one to make others respect you."

Snowy leaned up against Bone, feeling tired. "I know, and I understand," she said. Then she turned to look at him, her eyes hollow. "And I'm also very sorry. I promise it won't happen again."


	9. Hearts for the Heartless

The Broken Cat

Chapter 9: Hearts for the Heartless

Scourges heart was beating faster then normal, and he had spent the past few minutes trying to locate the problem. He focused his eyes, looking around the alley. Cats eyes met his, and they quickly turned away. Scourge suddenly felt warm, as if someone was looking at him. When he met Snowys eyes, he stopped. Instead of averting her eyes like everyone else, Snowy smiled. Scourge smiled back, involuntarily. Then he embarrassedly stumbled back into his den. His heart was going faster, and it was starting to hurt.

_Stupid heartbeat, what's wrong with you?_

Snowy scratched the fur under her collar, annoyed that it was so itchy.

"Collars aren't meant for kits, you know. It snags their soft fur," a sneering voice said. Snowy turned around to locate the voice, annoyed. A yellow and brown tom named Spots was glaring at her.

"Oh really," Snowy snapped. "Is that why Scourge didn't give it to you?"

"Don't push it, you little freak," Spots hissed before stalking away.

"Don't push it, you lousy, stinking piece of dung!" Snowy howled after him. Spots whipped around again, yellow teeth bared in a snarl. "Say that again," he threatened. "See what happens."

"Don't push it, you rotten pile of fox crap."

Spots flew at her, claws extended. Snowy collapsed under his weight, bruising the skin where her hind leg should be. Spots bit Snowy hard on the side, and Snowy yelped in pain. She rolled out of his way, hoping to crush him. But Spots was fast, and leaped off just in time. He lowered his haunches, preparing to leap again.

"Go away!" Snowy cried. "Stop biting me!"

Spots charged over and stomped on Snowys belly, nearly making her throw up. Suddenly, the weight of Spots's body was lifted, and Snowy looked up to see what was going on. Three huge cats had pulled Spots off her, and were proceeding to claw off his fur in large clumps. Spots's screams echoed all around the alley, and Snowy didn't know how everyone else could just ignore the disturbing sounds. Blood had started to spray off various places on Spots body, and Snowy jumped back as it flecked across her white fur.

"Okay, that's enough!" Snowy cried, as Spots started to vomit a disgusting mixture of blood and whatever else was in his stomach. At once, the cats let him go, dumping his body in the dirt. Spots was a big cat, but compared to the three others, he looked like a skinny underfed kit. The cats looked like giants compared to Snowy, who had to stretch her head back to look them in the eye. The biggest cat, a large gray striped tabby, pounded his paw onto Spots leg.

"Apologize to the deputy," he growled, his voice low and menacing. Spots feebly turned his head to look at Snowy. "I'm sorry," he whispered, before shutting his eyes in pain. Snowy just nodded awkwardly at him. Then she turned to the cats. "Thanks for that," she said, not sure what else to say. The big cat bent his head down to look at her. "No problem," he growled.

"Um, I've never seen you three here before. Where did you come from?" Snowy asked. The second biggest cat, a giant brownish red tom, replied. "We don't come out much," he said. His voice wasn't deep like the others, but an eerie sort of whisper.

"Its very odd that Scourge chose you as his deputy," the gray cat said as he circled Snowy, examining her.

"Yeah, I'm aware," Snowy retorted. The red brown cat raised an eyebrow, impressed. "You're very outspoken," he said. Snowy was starting to feel very uncomfortable, not sure what to do.

"Well, anyways, thanks for helping me and all that... but I should really go. I - I want to see if I can catch something for me and Bone to eat."

"Bones a wimp," the gray one scoffed. The red one snorted. "Yeah, come and eat with us," he said. Snowy felt herself slowly backing up. "Thanks for the offer, but I really should go."

The third cat, and skinny long legged tom, stopped her. "Come on, you little monster. I saw what you did to Aristol. You're one of us."

Snowy laughed nervously. "Yay, I'm one of you. But I really have to go," she stepped backwards, and stepped on the gray ones paw.

Snowy was surrounded.

"Come on, we get the best prey out of everyone," the red one said in his creepy whisper.

"We'll give you the best piece," the black one growled. Snowy was starting to get frighted. And it must have showed, because the gray one snickered. "Come on, we're not going to hurt you," he smiled.

"Yeah, we saved your life," the red one chimed in. "Don't you think you should thank us?"

Snowy desperately looked around, trying to find Bone.

"Nothing bad will happen to you," the black one said.

_I'm being stupid, why do I feel so uncertain about these cats? I'll just go with them, _Snowy tried to force away her gut feeling that something was very wrong.

_Besides, im the deputy. What are they gonna do to me?_

"Alright," Snowy said hesitantly. "I'll go with you."

**(Insert page breaker here)**

"Tanglestar, we have a problem," Poppyseed said. She had finally decided to talk to Tanglestar about Seedpaws dream. Tanglestar drowsily raised his head. "Can it wait till later?" he asked. "I'm sleepy."

"I'm tired too," Poppyseed snapped. "Tanglestar, this is important!"

Tanglestar unwillingly raised his head off his paws. "Okay," he sighed. "What's going on?"

"We need to evacuate the camp before the full moon," Poppyseed decided not to beat around the bush. Tanglestar snorted. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"Seedpaw came to me with a dream about Amissa," Poppyseed said. Tanglestars expression noticeably turned serious. "What was it about?" he asked.

"Well, it was a warning. Remember the dream you had a while back? About the cat promising pain and fear?"

"Yes, of course I remember. My memory isn't that bad," Tanglestar snapped.

"I know, but seriously, Tanglestar. I am fairly positive that these two dreams are connected."

"_Fairly _positive? Poppyseed, I'm not going to evacuate our home if you're not completely positive."

"Alright, alright I'm completely positive!" Poppyseed cried. Tanglestar thought this over. "Well, I agree we should do something. I don't know if leaving our camp is the answer, however," Tanglestar said as Poppyseed opened her mouth to protest. "I will think about it. What else do you know about the attack?"

Poppyseed didn't look at her leader as she spoke. "I don't think there's just one cat promising pain and fear," she said quietly. "I think there's a whole bunch of them."

"Like some sort of tribe?" Tanglestar asked.

"I don't know," Poppyseed replied. "It sounds like it. It's a group of cats, and they sound deadly. There's only one thing I'm confused about though."

"Oh? What's that?" Tanglestar asked.

"How did Amissa end up with them?" Poppyseed said, her voice faltering. "I mean, what if she's one of them? What if she wants to hurt us too?"

"That seems unlikely," Tanglestar scoffed. "She was the one who warned us about the attack."

"I guess," Poppyseed said reluctantly.

"But what if they attack and Amissa has to choose between us and them?" Tanglestar fretted. Poppyseed sighed loudly. "This is exactly why we have to leave! I mean, come on Tanglestar, who do you think she's gonna choose? The cats who she's gotten to know and live with, or the cats who banished her in the middle of winter to die? The answer is obvious!"

This seemed to get through to Tanglestar. "You're right," he agreed. "I'll talk to Sneezetail about it and see what he thinks."

"Okay," Poppyseed said feverishly. "Please hurry, Tanglestar. The full moon is coming closer every day."

**(Insert page breaker here)**

Snowy crouched low to the ground, ears flattened. She was around the street, a little ways away from where the alley where she lived was. The three toms were talking amongst each other, not including her. Snowy had figured out from their discussion that the big gray tom was named Rats, and the red one was called Coal. The black one remained unnamed. After a little while of their talking, the gray one turned his head to look at Snowy. Snowy quickly bent her head down to nibble at the dead rat carcass they had given her. It made Snowys stomach heave, but she forced it down anyway.

"You're such a pretty little thing," the gray one said, looming over Snowy. "It's a shame your brains don't match your beauty."

Snowy choked down what she was chewing, an odd sense of calm flooding over her. "You're not from the alley, are you," she said, staring Rats right in the eye. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Maybe there's some brains in you after all," he growled. "No, I'm not from the alley."

"Then what do you want?" Snowys voice cracked, making the black cat snicker.

"We want what every other cat wants. A place to live," Coal said.

"I'm sure Scourge will let you stay, if you ask him nicely," Snowy said, frightened. Rats sighed and shook his head. "But that's not all. We want a secure home. A home where we don't have to bow down to a higher authority," Rats growled the words, and Snowy flinched at his rancid breath. "So what do you need me for?" Snowy dared ask.

"We need you, Snowy," the black cat whispered. "However, we have no use for you alive."

Snowys heart felt like it dropped out of her chest and onto the dirty concrete. _I'm going to die now,_ the thought crossed her mind. _How could I have been so stupid? _Snowy felt her eyes well up with tears. Her vision blurred as Rats leaped on top of her, and her tears spilled over as Coal leaped in to help.

However, Snowys vision was blurred, but her reflexes weren't. As Rats dived in to bite her throat, Snowy snapped her head back. Rats's jaws clamped the air, and Snowy whipped her head back to bite his nose as hard as she could. He howled, and yanked his face back Snowy spat his blood out on the ground, then raised her paw to hit him across the head. But Coal stopped her, ripping into her pelt with his claws. Snowy ripped herself away, clawing at Coals face with her claws. She caught him right in the eye, making him squeeze his eyes shut with pain. Snowy broke free of them and ran as fast as she could back to the alley, screaming her head off the whole way there. "Scourge! Bone! Anyone, help me!" she shrieked as she heard the paw steps of the black cat pounding behind her.

Snowy made it just in time.

She burst into the alley just as the black cat clawed a chunk off her tail.

"Help!" Snowy cried again. Cats were starting to look over at her, wondering why she was making such a racket. Then the cat leaped on top of her, crushing her to the ground. Snowy tryed to wriggle free but the cat had a death grip on her and he wasn't letting go.

"We'll be back, you little monster," he hissed. "And when we do we'll tear you apart."

Snowy squeezed her eyes shut and waited for him to attack. But the cat was torn off, and Snowy opened her eyes in surprise. Scourge thrown the cat to the ground, and was tearing clumps of fur off his pelt at high speed. Snowy couldn't bring herself to advert her eyes, even though it was disturbing her more every second. Then Scourge took one last chunk out of the cats neck, and he fell down, eyes glazed and mouth open in a permanent snarl. The cat was dead.

Scourge warily looked away from the cat to meet Snowys shocked expression. "He's gone," Scourge said. "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Snowy didn't know what to say. "Well, thank you... but you didn't have to kill him."

Scourges narrowed eyes opened a bit wider, his expression softening. "If anyone tries to hurt you again, Snowy, they can expect the same fate as he did," Scourge gave one last glance at the dead cat lying on the ground as he mumbled the rest of his sentence.

"I'd do anything for you, Snowy."


	10. The Life Changing Discussion

The Broken Cat

Chapter 10: The Life Changing Discussion

"What's all this nonsense about Scourge liking Snowy?" Bone scoffed. "I thought we all agreed he was incapable of having feelings."

"Well, that was before he met Snowy!" Mink replied. "Seriously, Bone, you should see the way he looks at her."

Bone narrowed his eyes and angrily clawed at the ground with his claws. "That's exactly the problem," he growled. "I don't think its love your seeing, Mink. I have a hunch he's planning something, and I don't like the looks of it."

**(Page break)**

Snowy chewed her food very slowly, letting the rotting mouse sink its way into her teeth. After several long chews she swallowed, wincing as the mouse scraped its way down her throat. While she was in the process of taking another bite, Snowy looked around the clearing. Nero was sitting in the corner by himself, washing his leg. Bone and Mink were arguing by the box Snowy lived in. Jag and Spots were being lazy, sprawled out in the sun. _Where is Scourge? _Snowy thought to herself. She hadn't seen him since he had killed the black cat, and that was days ago. _He must be sitting in his den all this time, _Snowy thought crossly. _He's going to get sick if he doesn't get some exposure to the sun._ Snowy pushed the remains of her meal away from her and stood up. Her hind leg trembled, making Snowy feel like she was going to collapse. _I feel like I'm a thousand years old,_ Snowy grumbled inwardly as she limped her way over to Scourges den. She still didn't know how to react when cats stopped talking as she walked by them, staring at her as if she was going to attack them. Sighing, Snowy pushed her head through the entrance to Scourges den.

"What?" a voice snapped from the right side of the den. Snowy turned her head to look at Scourge, curled in a ball facing away from her. His ribs were showing through his fur, and his usually black pelt had turned a sickly shade of grey. Snowy didn't know what to say as she looked at him.

"Either speak or get out!" Scourge snarled.

"I just wanted to see where you were," Snowy mumbled. Scourges head snapped around as he recognized Snowys voice.

"Yeah, well, I'm in here," Scourge said, making an effort to calm his voice.

"I can see that. Anyway, I was wondering something," Snowy started. Scourges ears pricked up.

"Oh?" he said. "And what's that?"

"It's about the attack on Frostclan," Snowy said briskly, swearing she saw Scourges ears droop very slightly.

"What about it?" Scourge shook his head and regained himself. "We attack on the full moon, which is in two days. What's there to discuss?"

"Well there's a lot of stuff to discuss," Snowy snapped. "For starters, you haven't even bothered to talk to me about this. And second, every single cat out there is freaking out because they don't know what the hecks going on!"

"How many times do I need to explain myself," Scourge hissed. "We are attacking in _two days. _Do I need to spell it out for you?"

Snowy raised an eyebrow, unfazed by his sarcasm. "Spell it out for yourself, Scourge."

"Maybe I will."

"Maybe I don't care if you do in the first place," Snowy realized their conversation had resorted to a pointless argument, and felt silly.

"Well, I have an idea for the attack," Snowy said, her tone sharp and attentive again. "Would you like to hear it?"

"No."

"I think we should go talk to Frostclan," Snowy said.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my whole life," Scourge shook his head in disgust. "I don't get it, I thought you were smart! And now you just run your mouth on every little thing that comes into your head."

Snowys ears boiled with anger. "_I'm_ running my mouth?" she cried. "You're the one with their emotions way out of wack! First you pin me down and start screaming at me, second you ignore me for like, ever. Thirdly, you kill a cat right in front of me and say that you'll do anything for me! And now, its back to the old routine of hating on me like im some kind of worthless kit! Would you _like," _Snowy paused to take a breath. "To explain yourself?"

To Snowys surprise, Scourge got even angrier.

"I don't know, Snowy!" he screeched, making Snowys ears ring. "How am I supposed to know why I can't be mean to you? I'll tell you this, it would be a whole lot easier if I could!" he shouted again. Snowy stomped up to him and tilted her head back so she could glare up at him.

"You want to have a shouting match with me?" Snowy yelled. "Because let me tell you, Scourge! You will _lose."_

They stood glaring at each other, eyes shooting out imaginary flames and anger. Then Scourges face softened.

"What?" Snowy snapped as Scourge started to laugh.

"Your face just looked really funny," he snorted. Snowys face flushed red. "Be quiet," she muttered.

"Snowy?" Scourge asked.

"What?"

"I love you."

Snowy nearly threw up the mouse she had eaten moments earlier.

"Don't lose your breakfast," Scourge snapped as he looked at Snowys expression. "Jeez."

"Jeez yourself," Snowy wheezed, feeling dizzy. "Why would you say that?"

"Because I do," Scourge growled. "You said you wanted an explanation so I gave you one."

"Well," Snowy wasn't sure what to say.

"Ever since I saw you I wanted to tear you apart," Scourge began.

"Aw jeez that's great-"

"Let me finish!" Scourge snapped. "You made me want to sink my claws into that pretty little neck of yours. And why? I'm not sure why, actually. I didn't know where such a strong feeling was coming from," Scourge turned away so he didn't have to look at Snowy as he spoke. "It's such a stupid feeling," he whispered. "Because I want to hurt you, but at the same time I want to be with you. I want to feel you next to me when I wake up."

Snowy sat in silence as she listened, not daring to interrupt.

"I want you to love me too," Scourge said at last. "Because no one else does."

"Well, you'd be surprised," Snowy whispered. Scourge just shrugged, still not facing her.

"I'm serious," Snowy persisted. "Everyone wants love, Scourge. You just have to look for it."

"I tried looking, you idiot."

"Well, you looked in the right place," Snowy said, feeling her heart racing. Scourge finally looked up at her at this. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I love you too, Scourge."


	11. Reunion

The Broken Cat

Chapter 11: Reunion

Snowy felt her heart pounding as she stood next to Scourge on the highledge. Cats stared at her, some envious, some surprised. Snowy could feel Scourge tense beside her as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Tonight we attack!" he screeched, taking a few paces forward. Snowy marveled how his fur bristled with anger, and despite his size, he seemed to make the cats cower in his shadow.

"WE SHOW THEM NO MERCY, ONLY VIOLENCE!" Scourge screamed again, and Snowy noticed the cats below watching him with wide eyes. They were afraid of them, and by the way they were looking at her, Snowy knew they were afraid of her too. Snowy scanned the clearing, and locked eyes with Bone, who was sitting in the back. He looked at her sadly, his eyes dull. Snowy turned away. After she told Scourge her feelings, she had been spending time with Bone less and less, replacing his friendship with Scourge. Snowy could still feel him looking at her, and a pang of guilt shot through her. Snowy shoved it away, making a mental note to go see him later. With a jolt, Snowy realized while she was off in her own little world, Scourge had gotten the cats so riled up they were charging among the clearing, some clawing other cats. Snowy watched in shock as a cat leaped on another and proceeded to tear his ears apart.

"Stop!" Snowy shouted, walking to the edge of the rock she was standing on. "What use will we be in battle if we waste all our energy tearing each other apart?"

The cats stopped fighting at once, and stared at her in fear. _They look like im about to attack them, _Snowy thought crossly. _Since when did their respect for me turn into fear? _Snowy opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped. Three strange cats stood at the entrance to the clearing, staring at them. Snowy nudged Scourge, who was howling who knows what at the top of his lungs. Scourge stopped yelling to look at Snowy, who nodded her head in the direction of the three cats.

"Those aren't our cats, are they?" Snowy murmured. Scourge shook his head no.

"Come here!" Scourge screeched. The cats did as they were told, moving with quick, jerky steps.

"We come in peace," a small she-cat said, trembling. "My name is Poppyseed, and this is-"

"Did I invite you into my clan," Scourge hissed, his voice eerily quiet. Poppyseeds whole body shook, and she started muttering something inaudible.

"Well, Bloodclan, it seems we have some volunteers for our attack practice," Scourge called out. "Shall we do a little demonstration?"

Cats howled in excitement, unsheathing their claws. Snowy was starting to feel very uncomfortable, one of the intruders, a dark brown tom, was staring at her.

"Bone, why don't you come up here and show us your skills," Scourge said. Snowy shot a glance at Scourge. _Whys he making Bone do this, _Snowy thought nervously. _He knows I'm close to him. _Bone reluctantly picked his way through the crowd until he stood directly below Scourge and Snowy. Scourge then nodded to the brown tom who was staring at Snowy. "You, what's your name."

The brown cats voice cracked as he spoke. "Rowenheart."

"Bone, kill Rowenheart," Scourge snapped. Bones eyes widened in shock.

"Now!" Scourge screamed. Snowy felt like everything she had ever known was crumbling into a pile of dust. _How did I ignore Scourges violence, _she thought desperately. _He is dangerous, how could I have been so stupid... _Snowys thoughts were broken as Bone let out a blood curling screech and flew at Rowenheart. Blood flew from Rowenhearts ear as Bone dragged his claws through it. Snowy could barely watch, praying for Bones safety with every breath she had. Bone then tried to strike a paw across Rowenhearts face, but missed. Rowenheart charged at Bone, knocking him onto the ground. Bone fell on his back, leaving his soft belly exposed. _Oh no,_ Snowy thought, legs shaking with fear as Rowenheart tore Bone open with his claws. Bone gasped, flopping onto his side. _He's losing,_ Snowy thought. _He's going to die... _

It all happened in a blur. Snowy let out a blood curling shriek and hurled herself at Rowenheart. She could hear him exhale in surprise, and Snowy knocked him over without even a fight.

"Leave Bone alone!" she screamed. "I'll kill you myself!" Snowy raked her claws over his face, sending spurts of blood on the ground. Snowy expected him to strike back, but for some reason he didn't. Snowy took the opportunity to lung for his neck, teeth bared in fury. She gave him a good chomp, not enough to kill him but enough for him to howl in pain. Snowy stepped back as Rowenheart cowered away. "What's wrong with you?" she cried. "Why won't you fight me?"

Rowenheart stared at her in fear.

"Well?" Snowy demanded.

"You're my daughter," Rowenheart whispered. Cats gasped around the hollow, and Snowy felt like a stone had sunk into her chest as she realized he wasn't lying. He had a similar face to hers, and they shared the same colored eyes.

"You, are not my father," Snowy hissed. "I have a dad already, so back off!"

"I'm telling the truth," Rowenheart whispered. Snowy glared at him. "I don't care!" she cried. "Dad's aren't supposed to leave their daughters to die in the cold! I have a wonderful dad," Snowy looked over at Bone, who was now gasping for breath, his blood pooling on the ground. "Oh for gods sake can someone please help him?" Snowy looked over at the cat who called herself Poppyseed. "You. You smell like a herb garden, so fix my dad!" Snowy bared her teeth at her, making Poppyseed do as she was told.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Snowy growled at Rowenheart. Rowenheart returned her gaze evenly, expressionless. "Because, Amissa," he started. "I'm the deputy of Frostclan. And I'm here to ask you to back down."


	12. Finale

The Broken Cat

Chapter 12: Finale

"I'm deputy of Frostclan," Rowenheart said evenly. "And I'm here to ask you to back down."

All eyes turned to Snowy, but she couldn't return them. She was frozen, paws trembling on the cold earth.

"Back down from what?" Snowy stammered at last, voice cracking with every word.

"I want you to back down from attacking our clan," Rowenheart replied. A chorus of laughter erupted around the hollow.

"We'll kill you first then go for your clan!" one cat howled.

"We'll rip you limp from limp!" another one called out. Snowy turned to face Scourge, expecting him to give the order to attack.

Scourge sat unmoving, staring at Snowy. Snowy thought he must have zoned out because he was so still, but then he spoke. His words felt like stabs of ice, each one drilling farther and farther into Snowys heart.

"Who told you about the attack," Scourge whispered, talking to Rowenheart but staring at Snowy. Rowenheart took a long time to answer. "Your deputy told me," he said at last. "Amissa told you."

"I don't know who Amissa is," Scourge hissed. "But my deputy is _Snowy. _How dare you intrude our clan, and accuse her of betraying us? Of betraying me," Scourges voice trailed off as Rowenheart grimly nodded his head yes.

Snowys hind leg collapsed and she flopped onto the ground, petrified. Scourge turned to face her, eyes wide. "You sold us out," he said, astonished. Then his eyes narrowed in anger. "Out of all cats, I thought you were the most trustworthy!" he snarled, making Snowys eyes spill over with tears.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, but Scourge cut her off. "Get out of my clan," he growled. Snowy opened her mouth in protest.

"Go, now!" Scourge screamed. "And never come back!"

Snowy turned around and streaked away, tears blurring her eyes, making her stumble blindly through the forest.

**(Paeg break)**

It had been three moons since Snowy was banished. Bone ate his dinner alone every night, not having the initiative to talk with other cats. He nearly half expected Snowy to defy Scourge, and say she had reason and purpose for ratting him out. But she hadn't, she cracked. She stopped the attack, but at a horrid cost. Bone wondered where she was now. He hoped she was happy, with good cats that would treat her with the respect she deserved.

_Snowy, I love you, _Bone thought

_You may not be with us anymore, but you will always be in my heart. _

_You are not a broken cat, my love._

_You are Snowy, the amazing, beautiful daughter i've never had._

_Good luck on your new life, Snowy. _

_I hope you don't forget me,_

_Because I'll never forget you._

_**The End.**_

Thanks so much for reading all the way till the end, my lovely viewers! Thank you so much for the amazing reviews!

By the way, if you liked my story, keep watch for the sequal!


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